Only two days after my last post, I want to take back everything bad I ever said about India. Although it was all true! ha ha.... but, fresh from a great conversation with an Englishman in a small Himalayan cafe about the paradox of India, I'm willing to forgive it. For I have been reawakened to its beauty once more...
Yes, certain things about this country annoy the hell out of me: men, rubbish, pollution, noise, bad toilet hygiene - I've said it all before. BUT what I failed to remember for a few weeks was the sheer DIVINITY of this land and the ancient, ancient traditions that pervade it. This is the land of ALL paradoxes, the most despicable and most pure, the sacred and profane, the dark and the light. Here's some examples.
This is the land that pretty much invented silence - Vipassana meditation was brought here from Burma to be kept safe, while the Buddha achieved enlightenment at Bodhgaya. Some say Christ lived here in his 'lost years' (the next book on my list is 'Jesus lived in India' and many believe he is actually buried in Kashmir. The ancient tradition of yoga was born here. Many, many ancient traditions can be traced to these lands - I only wish I had more specific knowledge to share of them right now. I'm researching, I'm researching...
Okay. Apparently in Vipassana centres, Indians are the hardest to shut up ("yes, yes" they say, and then continue on their conversation ignoring their vows of silence as soon as the teacher has walked a few meters away) - I can't vouch for this myself but go by the words of the dude I just met who has done many retreats. I can , however, speak from experience about the Char Dam yatra I just undertook, in which the roads to sacred temples were coated in donkey shit and I was deafened by the shouts of sherpas jostling for space with donkeys and locals fighting their way to the top. In Varanasi at puja, tourists literally scrapped to be in line to receive prasad.
The Ganga. The most sacred body of water in India, believed to be able to heal any illness and help one escape the wheel of karma if they are lucky enough to have their ashes cast into it. This doesn't stop hundreds of people pissing and shitting into it, and even worse, throwing their rubbish and even empty beer bottles into it! (Recently I met some very drunk Australians who had been drinking illegal beer in Rishikesh. They had been with an Indian dude who got into a scuffle on the Lakshman Jhula bridge and to avoid drama they too threw their bottles of beer into the holy river! Oh well, when in India...)
Aesthetics. Indians have created many beautiful temples and value their gods and goddesses beyond belief, offering them sweet fruits, fresh flowers and incense every chance they get. The Taj Mahal was built as a monument to love. Indian fabrics are stunning, shawls often gorgeously woven in intricate patterns. And yet, locals just do not care where they put their garbage. They throw it to the street, in the Ganga, outside their temples, spit in the gutters and shit in the alleyways.
Cows. Worshipped as embodying 'sattva', the purity of love and light, they rule the school here in India. Rickshaws edge around them, tourist buses stop in the street for them and if one is to kick one of them they face jail time. Yet, they are chained up with ropes less than a metre long to family fences and forced to feed on discarded plastic in the streets so that it swells in their bellies and makes them sick.
Weddings - sacred and holy Sanskrit rituals, locals talk over the priests throughout, calling to relatives across the room or temple.
Sex - this is the land that spawned the Kama Sutra, and yet many couples will never see each other completely naked with sex being a five minute affair. Yes, I'm generalising and am highly cynical about this, having talked to many unhappy couples and too many women chained to the household.
Love - they are OBSESSED with it and seem to live in this dreamland of romance, whereas in reality they will meet their marriage partner only once or twice before they marry (if they're lucky) and only get to know them slowly over the years. A beautiful concept if their stars are aligned as they believe, but often not working so well in modern society with its Bollywood emphasis on 'love at first sight'.
Compassion - beggars and sadhus are fed every day for free at certain temples, while policemen bribe passers by and once bet up my Delhi rickshaw driver in front of my face.
I could go on. Basically, the only way I'm ever going to accept India is if I accept that I'll never understand its contradictions. In short, the people are quite happy with the paradoxes they live with. I'm not always, but I will do my best to accept them, because I can't reject India after all that it's given me.
I met a wonderfully refreshing American guy, Sean, back in Varanasi. He was hardcore - travelling around India on his motorbike, sleeping on the roadsides on top of his money belt and even drinking from the holy Ganga at Varanasi. He seemed to have a pretty good handle on things actually, and tried to explain it to me in that Hindus believe everything to be sacred - there is no in between. That the Ganga is believed to have the power to diffuse all pollution and darkness. That even rubbish is sacred, so there is no need to hide it like we do in our clean Western societies. That many people. living and surviving on the streets, live out their family dramas in the midst of everyone else. One person's business is anybody's in India, as I know all too well, with many curious males faces crowding around me whenever I try to secure a rickshaw or taxi ride. Some even help me bargain over the price, bless their nosy hearts!
Contradiction central. But I'll forgive it, for there is still many, many sacred spots to uncover in this land. I feel like I'm only getting started now, and although I may never do another multi-month stint here like I have done up till now, I will definitely come back to visit some specific sacred sites, like Almora, Kashmir, Gangotri once again (got to reach Gaumuhk this time!), and Vrindavan. So much still to discover! The possibilities are endless...
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